I miss Bailey

Day two since we said goodbye to Bailey.  Many will scoff at my attachment to this little dog, but he was my buddy.  For over twelve years, I never had an empty lap.  I can't remember a time when I sat down since he was a puppy that he wasn't there.  When he was young, he traveled with us everywhere; airplanes, cars, you name it.  When he traveled by car with Garry and I, he had to sit in my lap but have his head extended far enough so he could at least be touching Garry's arms.  As he grew older, he became a bit moody, but who knows when he began fighting the heart disease that took his life.  During his last few days, he had to be held every moment, and we were glad to do that.  He looked at us, pleading for us to ease his pain.  He ate nothing for the last few days and was emaciated.  He cried a lot the last day, whimpering and shivering as we tried to keep him warm with a heating pad and lots of blankets.  I think he knew we loved him so much that he didn't want to disappoint us by giving up, yet that would have been our choice, for him not to suffer.  When I learned that he was gone, I was in rehearsal and I cried very hard.  My students all comforted me with hugs and words of encouragement.  That meant a lot.  When I came home to see his grave, I so badly wanted to hug him one more time.  I miss having him in my lap, having him greet me at the door every day, his tail wagging (it took him two years to learn how to wag his tail!), cuddling beside me when I watched TV.  He was our friend and we miss him.  Thank you, Lord, for the precious gift of animals.